Creoles of South Louisiana:Three Centuries Strong

Book talks can be boring—unless you’ve got an interesting topic and an engaging speaker! In this presentation, author and historian Dr. Elista Istre invites her audience to enter the Creole world—a place where cooks tempt taste buds with gumbo and crawfish, storytellers mesmerize young and old with tales tied to three continents, and musicians and dancers pulsate to the rhythms of accordions and rubboards.

“Dr. Istre illuminates the various shades of Creole, but shines a bright light on the generations, caught between the Atchafalaya River and the southeast Texas border, that have shared their Zydeco, cuisine, faith, and family values with the world.”–Herman Fuselier, Lafayette Daily Advertiser

“The word ‘Creole’ is unquestionably the most misunderstood term in the southern lexicon. In this erudite tour de force, Elista Istre provides insiders and outsiders an easily digestible, yet authoritative guide to the history and culture of a community that perhaps best exemplifies the American melting pot.”–Carl A. Brasseaux, former director of the Center for Louisiana Studies and author of more than three dozen books on Louisiana history and culture